Jar tool for well operations



Oct. 9, 1962 E KOPPL 3,057,418

JAR TOOL FOR WELL OPERATIONS l nlllilililililili Filed April 20, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet l FI/ GaL E00 ga .FTI/G0 ga' .f3

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oct. 9, 1962 E. KOPPL 3,057,418

JAR TOOL FOR WELL OPERATIONS Filed April 20, 1959 2 sheets-sheet 2 lNvENToR. fe/V557' Hoppz.

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United States Patent O 3,057,418 JAR TOOL FOR WELL OPERATIONS Ernest Koppl, Huntington Park, Calif., assigner to Shaffer Tool Works, Brea, Calif., a corporation of California Filed Apr. 20, 1959, Ser. No. 807,394 6 Claims. (Cl. 175-294) This invention relates to tools for well drilling and other well operations, and more particularly to jar tools of the general type disclosed in my copending application, Serial No. 649,829 (Patent No. 2,963,101), such tools comprising two members, one telescopically movable in the other with one member having an impact surface for striking against a complementary impact surface on the other member to impart a severe jar to a well string or casing or tubing which may be stuck in a well thus to release the well string from its stuck point.

It is a general object of this invention to provide a well tool of the above-mentioned character and provided with grip and release elements which are so constructed and arranged with respect to the remaining elements of the tool as to predetermine the force of a push or pull to be exerted on a drill string for operating the jar tool.

A specific object of this invention is to provide a jar tool for a well string having a spring sleeve operatively associated with the relatively movable members of the jar tool to secure one member and hold it stationary with respect to the other member until an axial force of predetermined value is accumulated in the well string for initiating a jarring operation. Further objectsv and advantages of the invention will appear during the course of the following part of this specification in which the details of construction and mode of operation of a preferred embodiment of the invention are described with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. `l is an elevation, partly in central vertical section, of a well tool embodying the invention, the same being shown positioned in a Well and with its parts interengaged as for a drilling operation;

FIGS. 2 and 2a are enlarged longitudinal sections of the upper and lower portions, respectively, of the tool, the male member part of the tool `being shown in elevation and partly cut away, and the parts of the tool being shown in their relative positions for performing a jarring operation;

FIGS. 3 and 4 are fragmentary sectional and partelevational views of those parts of the tool which appear in the upper portion of FIG. 2a, and show the tool elements in their relative positions during different phases of a jarring operation; and

FIGS. 5 and 6 are cross sections taken along lines 5 5 on FIG. 3 and 6-6 on FIG. 4, respectively.

Referring to the drawing in detail, the invention is illus- -trated as a section, designated generally by reference numeral 10, of a drill string having an axially extending bore 12 for conveying drilling fluid, tools, etc., down into the well during drilling operations. At its upper end the section It) is connected to a drill-string-section 13 as by a screw-threaded connection represented at 14. At its lower end the section is screw-threaded into a nipple 15 for connection to ya drill-string-section 16. The drill string is shown positioned in a well 17.

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Section 10 comprises a well tool of this invention and is adapted to serve as a releasable joint for a drill string and as a jar tool for imparting up and down jars to the drill string for loosening the string from a place at which the string is stuck below the section 10.

For convenience of description herein I have chosen to illustrate the instant invention in a form of combined tool having releasable joint and jarring components which are generally similar (except as hereinafter specified) in construction and operation to corresponding parts of the well tool which is illustrated and described in my abovementioned copending patent application.

Drill-string-section 10 comprises a tubular male member 20 receivable in a tubular female member 21. Proximate the upper end of the female member and projecting inwardly from the inside wall 22 thereof is a series of circumferentially spaced apart and longitudinally extending columns 23 of screw thread portions, there being three such columns in the illustrated embodiment. Spaces exist between adjacent screw thread columns thus to form a separated or interrupted screw thread section in the upper end portion of the female member. Around the outside surface 26 of the male member are three circumferentially arranged and longitudinally extending screw thread columns 27 having spaces 28 between adjacent thread columns to provide an interrupted screw thread section for the male member adapted to mesh with the interrupted screw thread section of the female member. Further details of construction for interrupted screw thread sections of the type illustrated in the drawing are to be found in my above specified copending application.

Below the interrupted screw threads on the female member and spaced equidistantly around the inside wall of the female mem-ber are three anvils 31, each being formed of a pair of projections as appears in FIGS. l and 2 of the drawing. Each anvil has an upper end surface or shoulder 32 and a lower end surface or shoulder 33 constituting the anvil surfaces of the jarring portion of the tool.

Below the anvils 31 and projecting inwardly from the inside wall of the female member is an annular flange 3S having a downwardly facing surface or shoulder 36. The male member is reduced in its outside diameter in the length thereof which extends below the flange 35, the place at which such reduction in diameter begins being designated by numeral 38 and appearing as a downwardly facing annular shoulder.

Formed in the outside surface of the male member and extending upwardly from the annular shoulder 38 are three channels 4t) for accommodating the anvils 31 respectively. These channels are of stepped configuration, each comprising a lower leg 41 extending upwardly from the reducing shoulder 38 and communicating at its upper end with an upper leg 42 of each channel through a short horizontally extending connecting portion 43, the lower leg 41 being open at its lower end 41 (FIG. 2). The upper end of channel leg 42 is defined by a shoulder V44 which constitutes a hammer surface for the jar tool. The lower ends -of the legs 42, defined by shoulders 45 respectively, provide another set of hammer surfaces for the jar tool. When the male member is moved upwardly in the female member, the hammer shoulders 45 of each of the channels will strike against the lower end shoulders 33 `of their respective anvils, and when the male merrrber is moved downwardly, the upper end shoulders 44 of the respective channels will strike against the upper end surfaces of the respective anvils.

There are pockets 47 and 48 extending horizontally from each leg portion 42 to accommodate the anvils when the male member is rotated to engage the screw threads of its interrupted thread columns with respective interrupted screw Kthreads of the female member.

The illustrated embodiment differs from the well tool which is illustrated and described in the above referenced copending patent application (Patent No. 2,963,101), in the arrangement of the anvils and their cooperative channels. In said patent it is explained that the pockets (corresponding to the pockets 47 and 48 herein) and their respective anvils are machined (or the pockets are preferably provided with shims) such that the anvils engage the lower shoulders of their respective pockets to wedge the interrupted screw threads (herein screw threads of columns 23 and 27) against each other to a predetermined value of rotary strain exerted on the male member. The instant invention insures that the tool members shall become interconnected only when their interengaging parts are disposed in a specic phase of rotation with respect to each other so as to have each of the anvils received in that particular channel for which it was machined to cooperate rather than in anyone of the other channels. To this end, the anvils are staggered longitudinally in the female member and the channels have their upper leg portions 42 correspondingly staggered with respect to each other. Anvil 31', shown in FIGURE 2 is the intermediate one of the three anvils of the illustrated embodiment, it being designed to cooperate with 'the intermediate one of the three channels. The several anvils of the illustrated embodiment being of uniform longitudinal dimension, the lengths of the upper leg portions 42 of the several channels are equal, whereby corresponding hammer surfaces of each of the channels will strike their respective anvils simultaneously.

Referring now to the lower portion of the illustrated tool below the annular flange 35, there is a grip and release means for restraining the male member against axial movement in the female member until a push or pull of predetermined force is applied to the male member in order to release the same for striking of the hammer surfaces upon the anvils. Such grip and release means comprises a cylindrical sleeve 51 disposed around the male member. Sleeve 51 is split longitudinally thereof at 52 whereby the sleeve may be expanded radially outward from a constricted phase thereof as shown in FIGS. 2a, 3 and 5 to an expanded phase thereof shown in FIGS. 4 and 6 of the drawing.

The inside surface of the sleeve is designated by reference numeral 53, its upper and lower end Walls by numerals 54 and 55 respectively, and it has a plurality of axially spaced apart annular grooves formed therein. Such sleeve grooves are designated by reference numerals 57 to 61, respectively. The two side walls 62 of each groove are bevelled to form the same of frusto-conical conjiguration. Also, the upper inside rim 63 of the sleeve is similarly (bevelled.

The male member has a plurality of annular anges or collars 65 to 70 inclusive, formed integral therewith for meshing with respective sleeve grooves. The side walls 71 of the collars are bevelled to a frusto-conical configuration corresponding to that of the side walls of the grooves so that when an upward pull of predetermined force is exerted on the male member, and the sleeve is in abutment against the stop shoulder 36 of the annular flange on the female member, the bevelled surfaces of the several collars bearing against the complementarily bevelled surfaces of the sleeve grooves will cause the sleeve yto expand. When expanded the sleeve becomes released from its gripping engagement around the male member, and the male member may be pulled axially upwardly with respect to the sleeve. It is to be noted that the axial dimensions of the several grooves and of the several projecting collars differ from one another, but that the axial dimensions of the grooves 57 to 61 correspond with those of the collars 66 to 70, respectively, whereby the sleeve will contract circumferentially around the male member only when the collars are aligned with their respective mating grooves. When the male member has been moved axially in the sleeve to any position where the respective mating sets of grooves in the sleeve and collars on the male member are not in alignment, the land portions of the several collars Will ride upon the inside surface 53 of the sleeve thus to maintain the sleeve in its expanded condition.

The sleeve is movable to a limited extent axially in a cylindrical recess 74 formed in the inside surface of the female member, such recess 74 being of substantially greater axial dimension than the sleeve.

The effective axial length of the cylindrical recess 74 may be predetermined by employing a stop ring 75 of a desired axial dimension. Such stop ring has an upper end wall 76 `against which the lower annular end wall of the sleeve labuts when the sleeve is moved downwardly in the female member. In the illustrated embodiment, the stop ring is secured as with bolts 77 upon the upper end wall 78 of a tubular plug 79 which forms the lower end portion of the female member of the drill-stringsection 10, and in the illustrated embodiment the inside diameter of the stop ring is large enough to accommodate the lowermost coll-ar 70 when the male member is moved downwardly in the female member.

During drilling, the male and female members of the -tool 10 are interconnected by the releasable joint of their interrupted screw thread columns so that rotation of the drill string at the top of the well will be translate-d through the tool to the lower end (not shown) of the drill string. Should the drill string become stuck in the well ybore bel-ow the tool 10, the interrupted screw threads of the male and female members `are `disengaged by rotating the male member `with respect to the female member to align the thread columns of one member with the spaces between the thread columns of the other -member thus to permit axial movement of the male member in the female member with the anvils disposed in their respective longer channel legs 42 of the male member for performing a jarring operation.

Por an up-jar operation, with the interrupted screw threads disengaged, an operator at the top of the well pulls upwardly on the drill string to raise the sleeve 51 and bring its upper end in abutment against the yannular ange 35. The operator continues `applying an upward pull on the Idrill string, causing the Vsame to become stretched, until a predetermined force, e.'g. fifty tons greater than the weight of the drill string, is reached 'at which the sleeve 51 is designed to release the male member. The value of the force required to expand the Sleeve is determined by several design factors, eg. radial thickness of the sleeve wall, inclination of the l'bevelled side walls 62 and 71, radial dimension of the collars 65 etc. on the male member, and number of mateable grooves and collars on the sleeve and on the male member, respectively. When the upward strain of predetermined value is reached for instantaneous release of the split sleeve 51 from the male member, the male member snaps upwardly with great force and its lower hammer surfaces 45 strike against the anvils 31, imparting a severe jar to the drill string.

Following an up-jar operation, the male member is moved downwardly to move the split sleeve Iagainst the stop ring 75 whereupon further `downward movement of the male member will bring the same into position with respect to the sleeve wh-ere its several collars will `become yaligned with their respective mating grooves in the sleeve and the sleeve will once again grip the male member. Should it be desired to apply a down-jar to the drill string, :a downward force is applied to the male member to cause release of the sleeve and striking of the hammer shoulders 44 against the anvils.

Should repeated up-jar and down-jar operations fail to free the drill string from its stuck point, the male member and the sections of drill string above the male member may 'be retrieved from the well by disconnecting the male member from within the female member aS described more fully in my aforementioned copending patent application.

While the instant invention has been shown and described herein, in what is conceived to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is recognized that departures may be made therefrom within the scope of the invention, which is therefore not to be limited to the details disclosed herein, but is to be accorded the full scope of the claims.

What I claim is:

1. A well tool comprising `an elongate male member and an elongate female member, the male member having an outside wall, the female member having an inside wall, the male member being telescopically receivable in the female member, the female member having an inside cylindrical wall section defining a recess, said recess being defined between two axially spaced apart yantipodal stop shoulders, a resilient expandable sleeve in `said recess and :around the male member, the sleeve being of an axial length less than that of said recess, the sleeve having a cylindrical inside surface, interengaging-projec- -tion-groove means on the inside and outside of the sleeve and the male member resjectively, whereby the sleeve iS circumferentially constricted when the projection portion of said means is in mesh with the groove portion of said means and the sleeve is circumferentially expanded when said portions are not in mesh to permit axial movement yof the male member with respect to the sleeve, said sleeve -being of a radial dimension such that when in itS expanded position the outside surface of the sleeve is spaced circumferentially and radially inwardly of said recess wall section.

2. A jar tool for well operations comprising an elongate male member and an elongate female member, the male member having an outside wall, the female member having an inside wa'll, the male member being telescopically receivable in the female member, impact surfaces on the members respectively for striking against each other when the members are moved axially with respect to each other to impart an axially directed jar to the tool, the female member having an inside cylindrical wall section defining a recess, said recess being spaced axially from said impact surfaces and being defined between two axially spaced apart antipodal stop shoulders, a resilient expandable sleeve in said recess and around the male member, the sleeve being of an axial length less than that of said recess and the sleeve being spllit throughout its axial length, the sleeve having a cylindrical inside surface, interengaging-projection-groove means on the inside and outside of the sleeve and the male member respectively, whereby the sleeve is circumferentially constricted for gripping the male member when the projection portion of said means is in mesh with the groove portion of said means and the sleeve is circumferentially expanded for release from the male member when said portions are not in mesh to permit axial movement of the male member with respect to the sleeve, said sleeve being of a radial dimension such that when in its expanded position the outside surface of the sleeve is spaced circumferentially and radially inward of said recess Wall section.

3. A jar too'l according to claim 2, in which impact surfaces are defined by a plurality of parallel longitudinally extending channels of limited and uniform axial extent formed in the outside surface of the male member and a plurality of anvils projecting inwardly from the inside surface of the female member and relatively movable axially in the channels, respectively, each channel being open at one end thereof for reception of the anvils respectively.

4. A jar tool according to claim 3, in which said anvils are spaced circumferentially around the inside wall of the female member and the channels are spaced circumferentially around the male member, and one registering set of anvil and channel extend axially beyond the remaining anvil and channel sets.

5. A jar tool for well operations compring an elongate male member and an elongate female member, the male member having an outside Wall, the female member having an inside wall, the male member being telescopically receivable in the female member, the male member having screw threads extending circumferentially on its outside wall, the female member having screw threads extending circumferentially on its inside wall and with its screw threads being interengageable with the screw threads of said male member, said threads being interrupted along longitudinally extending spaces to define thread columns, the thread columns on each member being registrable with the thread spaces on the other member to permit relative axial movement of the members without screw thread interengagement, impact means on the members respectively for striking against each other when the members are moved axially with respect to each other thereby to impart a jar to the tool, the female member having an inside cylindrical wall section defining a recess, said recess being spaced axially from said impact means, two spaced apart antipodal stop shoulders on the female member defining the effective axial extent of the cylindrical recess, a sleeve of resilient material in said recess and around the male member and having cylindrical inside and outside surfaces, the axial length of the sleeve being substantially less than the distance between said stop shoulders whereby the sleeve is movable axially in the cylindrical recess, the sleeve being split throughout its length, upper and lower spaced apart collars integral with and extending around the male member and having peripheral land surfaces of equal diameter, the sleeve having upper and lower axially spaced apart annular grooves formed in the inside surface thereof, said upper collar and said upper groove being of common dimensions measured axially of the male member, said lower collar and said lower groove being of common dimensions measured axially of the male member, the spacing between said collars being equal to the Spacing between said grooves, said split sleeve being expandable radially outward from a contracted position around said male member wherein said upper and lower col'lars extend into said upper and lower grooves respectively to an expanded position around said male member wherein said inside surface of the sleeve is in engagement with said land surfaces of the collars, the sleeve being of a radial thickness such that when the sleeve is in its expanded position the outside surface of the sleeve is spaced inwardly from said inside Wall section of the female member, said collars and said grooves having bevelled side Walls of frustoconical configuration whereby an axial strain upon the male member when the sleeve is in abutment against one of said stop shoulders will urge expansion of the sleeve.

6. A jar tool for well operations comprising an elongate male member and an elongate female member, the made member having an outside wall, the female member having an inside Wall, the male member being telescopically receivable in the female member, the male member having screw threads extending circumferentially on its outside wall, the female member having screw threads extending circumferentially on its inside wa'll and with the screws threads of the female member being interengageable with the screw threads of the male member, said threads being interrupted along longitudinally extending spaces to define thread columns, the thread columns on each member being registrable with the thread spaces on the other member to permit relative axial movement of the members without screw threadY interengagement, the male member having a plurality of parallel longitudinally extending channels of limited and uniform axial extent formed in its outside surface, a plurality of anvils projecting inwardly from the inside surface of the female member and relatively movable axially in the channels respectively, each channel being open at one end therefor for reception of the anvils respectively, and one registering set of anvil and channel extending axially beyond the remaining anvil and channel sets.

References Cited in the iile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Ziegenfus Jan. 27, 1903 Stephan Nov. 3, 1936 Bowen Dec. 5, 1939 Bagnell et al Nov. 18, 1952 Koppl Jan. 14, 1958 OConnor et al May 20, 1958 Segelhorst June 23, 1959 

